Case Studies

With the school year approaching, I'm planning to introduce "case studies"
into my art methods class here at UF and was hoping that some of the art
teachers on this list would be willing to contribute a "real life" story or
two. If you have a few moments and can think of a classroom situation that
you've encountered that might lend itself to discussion among preservice
art teachers, I would greatly appreciate it if you would share your story.

What I'm looking for is a sort of "What would you do?" dilemma. This might
involve anything from a disruptive student to a lesson that went haywire.
It might involve a "funny" situation or a "frightening" one. If an appropriate
situation comes to mind, please describe the context and what transpired in
a few paragraphs followed by a brief explanation of how you handled the
situation and the results.

I realize that a teacher's decisions are dependent on a range of factors
and that we can't completely re-live the moment in the classroom. Also,
I'm not looking for something that has "one right answer." Rather I'm
hoping to use these stories to generate discussion among my students who
will soon face "real life" in the classroom as art teachers.

You can send the story to me directly by using the reply button...or you
can post the story on the list. That might generate discussion among list
members and prove interesting.

Depending on the response, I will compile the stories and post them on the
web so that other art teacher educators might make use of them. Of course,
I will credit the source of the stories unless someone requests that s/he
remain anonymous.